Loss.
Team Titan Think Tank. Issue 32- Occupied Territory Part Nine- "Loss." Front cover- on the front cover is each member of the Think Tank, Tops included, their faces reflections in a mirror, all smiling. But the mirror is cracked, each face of the team separated from the others by the huge crack. Along the bottom of the cover are the words A HERO FALLS, A HERO DIES. The comic opens above the Megaplex. In the foreground, the reader sees the firebursts of the rear of the missiles. Below, the reader sees the Megaplex roof, where Games Master stands over the decapitated by body of Wrench, his head not far from it. Games Master's face is silent, stoic. Determined. On the roof are also the four energy caged, now free from nanite control, Citizen Titans. Now terrified, hammering against the bars of golden energy. "Let us out!" "Help us!" Games Master looks to them, nods and looks up. The hemisphere of the golden force-field projected by the base is broken, pitted with holes, like a green house with most of its panes partially smashed through. Games Master looks at the humongous Citizen Ape, having leapt from the roof to a hopefully safe distance. He then looks to the trapped Esc-ape, now acting like a true chimp in his primal fear, smashing against the cage. Chaos is also there, completely paralysed by his cage, staring up in terror. Games Master looks back to the missiles as they descend. Golden energy shoots from each finger tip, as he holds his arms out horzontally. A bolt of energy flies at a gap in the force field. The skein of energy starts to heal over, but each hole is only repaired so much. Shrunken, but not fully restored. He then shoots the energy through the dome covering the 500ft high skyscraper. He looks up into the air, at the reader, screaming silently at the energy output. The comic cuts to Tonic, phasing her way up through the floors, crawling up the ceilings. As she phases out of a floor, and right into a cage. She reaches up to phase through it. The cage sparks, and her hand retracts in pain. The cage restricts around her. True fear shows on her face as she is completely trapped. And looks out the window to see the missiles approaching at multiple angles. The comic cuts down to the streets. Before the Megaplex, there is a huge empty car park, and so most civilians are not in immediate danger, though most still run. A few can't help but look up though, at the final end of what was once Titan City's second most elite super hero team's headquarters. The comic zooms in on a mother holding the hand of her child, squeezing it. Behind them on the wall are a multitude of posters, left from years ago, when the city needed such things. The poster says on the top of it QUANTUM. And along the bottom SCIENCE IS MAGIC. And the reader can see a vague illustration of an attractive female, posing on the poster, but its not entirely clear. The first missile hits the force field with a THOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. The force field holds, though cracks shoot among it, above Games Master's head. "Oh god, we're going to die!" a CT screams. Games Master just closes his eyes. CUT We cut to Cain and Sonne, where we last left them, Cain was trying to convince Sonne of his alternative plan. In the distance, miles away, the shining dome around the Megaplex can be seen, as the first missile thuds home Zark..." Gunn pauses at his keypad to watch the onslaught. "It doesn't..." he begins, but pauses to follow Sonne's gaze. "No... the base, he... alright Gunn, it *does* matter. It matters a lot, but- but the most important thing now-" he struggles, forcing himself to look back at Sonne and speaking through his teeth "Is to get BREAKER II out so we can *fix* all this!" "What the Scrapshunt is BREAKER II? We just made BREAKER!" And then the Megaplex force field lights up like an incredibly frightening, imposing Christmas Tree. The second missile punches a hole in the force field. The third one tears it apart. The two Blitzbots floating not far from the heroes fold their arms "So your cure for me has a name. Witness my cure for -you.-" And with that, the other missiles collapse the Megaplex tower. Or rather, blow it to pieces, there are so many missiles, it doesn't have the ability to collapse. Cain and Sonne can only watch the flying wreckage. "Cain!" CUT The comic cuts inside Blitzkrieg Island, where Molekulus is being assaulted, without much harm so far, by the bizarre Shocktrooper. Redemption and Yu stand, their foes inside otherwise defeated, unaware of the invisible Team Titan Black members, but quite aware of the four members who lie bloodied on the floor, the three with cybnertic attachments, having been largely removed from them. The entire base shakes as they are airborne, and not so far from the explosion. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM "What foul deeds have you and your monster commited now, vile beast!" Redemption roars at Molekulus. Yu flicks his eyes over his shoulder towards Redemption. "Did you-?" He falls silent as Redemption roars, returning his attention to what is happening before him, eyes narrowed. "Zis not my doing. My brother has chosen his own vay it seems. And so shall I." The entire base vibrates, shown to the reader by blurring it and everyone inside. "Verdammt!" Molekulus snarls, gripping his teeth, his fat lodging him firmly in his seat, despite the battering. Redemption and Yu are flung forward. Yu manages to flatten his palms and hold his body up above the floor before hitting it. Redemption is not so lucky. He hits the floor, already injured, receiving more hurt, as the metal floor is pushed downward and dented by his massive muscle mass. Leviathan is flung into a wall, getting briefly stunned, whilst Bogeyman grips onto the floor and holds still, Ripcage buries his bone scythes in the ceiling and hangs off it like a skeletal bat, and Le Qui holds his feet, by keeping his hanfs out for balance. Molekulus opens up a panel on the right arms of his chair. He hammers out something on the buttons. Course set. Farewell, Titans." The Shocktrooper hangs onto the arms of the chair, unable to stop Molekulus,as it hangs on as the base shakes. A panel in the wall opens behind Molekulus. His chairs slides through it, as the wall slams down. And then the base stops rumbling as the explosion passes. The base moves forward, but the inhabitants are not thrown from this, as the base is built for this movement to be barely felt. The comics cuts outside to show the base flying diagonally. Ahead of it, the ten Reichdroids are blasting at the populace. As the Blitzkrieg Island flies at the nearest skyscraper to its right. Blitzkrieg Island's plasma generators flare as it rams right into the skyscraper, which seems to crumple around the flying fortress, as asmall speck rockets out of the bottom of it, and then arcs up into the air, as Molekulus flies up into the air. "Ahahahahaha!" The comic cuts back into the Island. As the base hits the building, the base itself doesnt' crumple, but the people inside are flung about again. Redemption is picked up and hurled towards the opposite wall along with the unconcious TT Black members. He looks to Yu and the Shock Trooper. "You have to stop this thing!" Redemption smashes through the opposite wall. "I... believe in you..." His body glows bright gold, the energy funneling into both Yu and Shocktrooper. As then where the adult Redemption lay, now the child lies, unconscious, as the large dome he made above the city... shatters. The people running and screaming, stop, and the Reichdroids stop firing. The comic cuts to Blitzkrieg's 'true' electrical form, as he walks through the streets, phasing harmlessly through inhabitants, as he looks behind him. "Beautiful vork brother. Beautiful." CUT We cut back to Sonne and Cain as they see the first building about 250ft or so from the dust cloud now around the fallen Megaplex fall. On Sonne's newly made reciever comes the message. "BREAKER ready to deploy. Is deployment authorised?" comes the voice of the now more computerised GRANDDAD. "Cain, what am I doing?" Cain half hands Sonne his mobile, half shoves him back defensively, screen already lit up with a call attempt. "Hopefully... daring to trust an old villain." Gunn looks at the burning wreckage over yonder. He tenses his jaw. "Standby, GRANDDAD." "Standing by." "The call goes to a server I've had Nykus automate. It'll answer, and begin to download our solution immediately." "Nyk-who?" "I could go on, or you could broadcast that while I hold off the Blitzkrieg automotons with this large gun. Mm?" "...Cain, buddy, you're hurt bad." "And if we don't stop Blitzkrieg, we'll all be DEAD! Do NONE of you see that? The big picture, the SCHEME?!" "Sure. I also see my buddy who's hurting real bad right now. It's your choice, and I don't like it... but-...give it here." Sonne holds out a hand for the primative earth-commlink. Cain grasps Gunn's forearm for a moment in an ally-type fashion, then in the next panel his arm slips back and away, and in the third it gone, leaving the phone - advanced by human standards, but far from space age - in Gunn's gauntlet "Alternative broadcast signal recieved. Do you wish intercept and transmission?" "Confirm, update me with percentile value of inbound packet completion, GRANDAD." "Inbound packet intercepted and 100% ready for immediate deployment. Initiating." "Huh. That thing's surprisingly speedy." The two Blitzbots clamp their hands over their heads. As do all the civilians below Sonne and Cain "No.... so close" they all say. Mister Psychic and a random civilian are revealed as their Blitzbot bodies transform into their organic bodies over several panels, showing glowing orbs being filled by human eyeballs, metal plate turning back to skin, and so on, as the two fall from the sky. Mr Psychic is unconscious as he falls, but the civilian screams. Cain takes several quick paces toward the falling pair, dropping his advanced alien rifle and extending a helping arm, but his injuries get the better of him far before he reaches them and he falls, scraping across the ground. "Scrapshunt!" Gunn blinks, not expecting that. He throws out two beams at the two falling figures and snatches them from the air. Only feet from the ground, they are caught and lowered down. The comic then shows everyone in the city who can trying to either flee or fight back against blitzkrieg's Reichdroids. The comic shows an x-ray of civlians, their bodies filled with black motes in one panel, and then in the next, they are gone. "BREAKER version two succesfully deployed. Enemy nanite system coded to enemy, Blitzkrieg, destroyed. Nanites converted to organic matter." GRANDDAD says to Gunn and Cain "That's... genius. Why didn't you tell us about this sooner?" "Eheh..." Cain says, pitifully dragging himself up to his knees, "You... eheha... you're... you're serious, aren't you? Hah! Ah-hahaha!" "Settle down, Handbag. A stiff breeze could knock you for stars." "One more monologue, and I'm not sure... I'd mind that, so much... eheha..." "I would. Waterstone'd kick my ass." Gunn gives a concerned smirk. "You don't recall... my suggestion, to develop BREAKER to rewrite the nanites, cause them to turn themselves... into harmless, organic matter? Well, of course, Tonic wouldn't have that... no, it had to be *her* way. Did you know, I had to steal your BREAKER reseach... every step of the way? I was feeding it back to my own scientist... one Doctor Nykus, all along. And I have never been so glad... to be a distrusting, self sufficient... backstabbing *super hero* in my whole existence." "It paid off, Cain. But if you asked, if you'd told us.." Gunn seems to be clutching at straws a little. "I argued... I fought... and in the end, we won." he says, deliriously cackling here and there, as he stands, now using his blaster as a walking cane CUT We cut inside the base still crashing into buildings... As Yu looks at the only being in the room he knows to be there and conscious. The Shock Trooper. Yu still has his blade held ready as he recovers from the jolt. He glances down at Redemption, showing a little regret, before narrowing his eyes at the last shock trooper. "Are you going to help me?" The Shock Trooper does not look at him. "Well, since you came all this way and allied yourself with Team Titan to fight me, I assume you will not stop until you bring me in." It turns round to Yu. As it turns, the metal is melting away from its face, leaving an aged, incredibly wrinkled, chinese face with a long wispy silver, single pronged beared. "However, right now, I could stop you from bringing me back to the Order. Or of course leave you to be the hero whilst I escape. And let me say, Yu, that I am quite -tired- of imprisonment." He runs for the exit, and stops. As he stops, the man is now dressed in a long brown flowing robe, and the end of his beard almost touches the floor. In age, he does not seem far from Old Master, though he is much taller and thinner, and has long flowing silver hair and prominent bushy eveybrows as well. "Though, I must declare regret... I am sure you have been -longing- so much to fight me, Master of Arms. And it is so rare to find a -proper- fighter these days... but, your Order declared me a dishonoruable coward. I could prove otherwise with my death here... but I have already been branded. Good luck, Master of Arms." "Stop. Stop, Yu. STOP! ANSWER FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" He roars, letting out pent-up frustration, as his hand flies for his teleporter, vanishing and reappearing in the exit. Yu lifts his blade and points it at the other man. "Have you no desire to make amends for what you have done?!" "Make amends for what? I only acted in the way that the Order chose to brand me. They turned against me because they feared one of their own, as a mutant. It made them sick. So they outcast me. Branded me. And now they send their dog to finish me." He stands in a kung-fu motion. "But very well, Yu. We will see if you remember anything I taught you." Cutting to beyond them, the comic shows Ripcage. "Hey, kung fu idiots, crashing base over here!" he yells, but they can't hear him of course. "Then again... guess they don't know much about computers. Up to you, Slick..." he mutters to himself. He detachs from the ceiling, folding his wings into his back and taps away at the controls. "Damn! Locked me out." He skulks on all fours to the centre of the room. "Team, looks like we're going down. Get the fallen, and then..." He curls his body into a ball, which expands out, filling the middle of the room, behind Yu, something he still cannot see "Well, there's no way I can tell you what to do next that doesn't sound weird!" Le Qui steps between the expanded ripcage. He pulls Iron Jack's body into the centre "Leader gets first priority. if he's even alive." CUT Narration- "Moments ago." The comic cuts to show as the third missiles smashes through the force-field of the Mega-Plex, as fire bursts through the hole. Surrounding Games Master. He steps back, kicking Wrench's head by accident; the comic cuts to show the flaming head flying through the air. As each missile punches through, the heat increases around Games Master. Games Master lifts up his right hand as the 'flesh' on his hand melts off, showing a black metal hand, as the metal then glows orange-hot like the fires around it and then cracks. In the next panel, the hand is molten, and half of his human face gone, showing his red CABER visor. The light behind the visor flashes off and on, and energy crackles around his face. In small text are his whispered words: "We design who we are to become- We construct who we are- I will be a H--" He is engulfed by the fiery energy, as only black motes of bits of him are shown, as the comic zooms out to show the the exploding building. Out of the explosion shoots a beam of white light. The comic cuts to show Dungeon Master, flying on his griffon construct, as the energy flies towards him. "What the-ZZT?" The energy strikes him. "AahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The griffon goes from purple... to red and then bursts apart, as Dungeon Master crashes into a roof below. CUT The comic shows the electrical form of Blitzkrieg, surrounded by angry civilians. "Every nanite... gone." He looks up at a small flaming missile flies at him. "Time to go." The burning head of Wrench flies at him, and passes through him, bouncing along the ground. Blitzkrieg turns to look at it. Blitzkrieg's 'face' controrts into a grin. "But perhaps all is not lost." And then he looks to his Reichdroids that still fly above. As the shadow casts across Blitzkrieg and the still burning head of Wrench. CUT The comic cuts to Mister Tops "RRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" he tears the green goop fo his body, finally. He looks around. His top hat is gone. His suit destroyed. He now wears the partially burned remnants of his shirt, his neck tie, and his trousers, which now have long short ragged leg, and the other pitted with holes, making him look somewhat more intimidating. "ArgggggggggggggGGGGGGGGGGGH!" He punches a hand down, and pulls one of the fleeing velciraptors below him up to his face "Please... please don't kill me sir... we aren't controlled anymore..." "YOU BETTER HOPE BLOODY NOT!" He sprays saliva in the raptor's face. The other raptors, other dinos and Allruaisn below stop fleeing. "Its the truth. We are ready to follow your orders." Mister Tops turns towards Titan City. "They left me.. the bastards..." The comic finishes with the back of the raptor held in front of Tops' yellow eyes "All right. I got some orders for you." End of issue.